The wider significance of Hamilton's French GP masterclass

Lewis Hamilton ended up dominating the French GP, despite Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas appearing to have the measure of him early on. The race was anything but a classic, but its result offered three important lessons about this year's title fight

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton reigned supreme in the French Grand Prix, a race that was ostensibly straightforward and fitted in with the pattern that we've seen almost continuously since the start of 2014. But sometimes the less obvious trends are the more important ones, and what was exposed in the beating Paul Ricard sunshine were some subtle, but significant, storylines.

As a race, the French GP was not a thriller, with Hamilton dominating and only denied a sixth 'grand slam' of his career by the narrowest of margins thanks to Sebastian Vettel taking a free pitstop late on and nabbing fastest lap. It's legitimate to ask why anyone should do anything beyond shrugging their shoulders at another Mercedes victory parade? But, as always, in the detail there are always significant things to learn.